The project will relaunch the franchise begun by Hal Needham’s “The Cannonball Run” in 1981, a slapdash comedy starred Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, and many other stars of the time. The Fox release was universally panned by critics, but was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Warner Bros. followed that up in 1984 with “Cannonball Run II,” and Orion released a third film, “Speed Zone,” in 1989. The franchise centers around a cross-country car race, inspired by a real race that took place throughout the 1970’s.